Molly's Zoo » Twycross Zoo

Molly's Zoo
09-06-2008

I dont think there is a thread for this but i am currently reading mollys autobiography about how she set the zoo up.

has anyone else read this book, i must say it is a very entertaining book!

anyone else read it?

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James Butcher

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09-06-2008

Yes - I was actually lucky enough to get my copy signed by Molly herself, and it is a much treasured possession which I'm very proud of. She was a wonderful woman and her warmth really comes across well in the book.

09-06-2008

Yes i have it aswell, a very entertaining book.

09-06-2008

it is a really good book. Its nice how it gives you an insight into the decisions made such as having to go to an 'interview' of sorts in order to bring Bonobos to the zoo

10-06-2008

yes defintely, dont spoil it for me im upto the bit where they get the first elephants

my favourite bit so far has to be the chimp who flew the airoplane, so funny!

and i also felt so sad when sue died

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James Butcher

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10-06-2008

Am currently bidding on a copy of the book on Ebay.

Thanks for the tip-off am sure this book will be a great read.

10-06-2008

yes, and dont be put off by her unusual training with the chimps (which i know many people on here would critize) training chimps to dress up etc

but back then no-one knew any better!

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James Butcher

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10-06-2008

So how come no other zoos dressed-up chimps or handraised babies unnecessarily and humanised other apes so they wouldn't breed? Have you seen where the remaining old 'Tea Party' chimps still live at Twycross?

10-06-2008

no i havent seen where they live but i know that london zoo did similar things with thier chimps, can we not start a brawl over this

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James Butcher

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10-06-2008

I think it's a little harsh to judge what was done more than 40 years ago by today's standards. Miss Badham and Miss Evans were petshop keepers whose hobby expanded into a zoo. It couldn't happen today and it should never happen again.
They treated their animals in the way that seemed right to them, as did John Aspinall, Leonard Williams, Len Hill and many other 'eccentric' animal keepers. And like those other aspiring zookeepers, we can now see (with hindsight) that they each got some things right and some things wrong. Those Brooke Bond adverts paid for their zoo (and I suspect that many of the other zoos in the country would have done the same for the money).
We can't change the past. Twycross Zoo must be judged now on what it is today and how the management and staff are working for its future. It aspires to become the World Primate Centre - but there is a lot to do before that title holds true (in my opinion).

Alan

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When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.

10-06-2008

London Zoo held Chimpanzee tea parties(during an earlier era) but that's not quite the same as having them perform for T.V. advertising. But as Gentle Lemur points out, it was all a long time ago now and it was the revenue from that advertising which allowed Twycross to expand as a zoo. However, and despite the very extensive primate collection nowadays, I do think it still has quite a long way to go, both in enclosure design and in some areas of animal management, before it can claim to be a 'top notch' establishment.

I'm only pointing this out as there is food for thought here, so to speak.

10-06-2008

I agree....

11-06-2008

And what exactly are you doing for the conservation of endangered species or improving animal welfare? i very much doubt it is on the same scale as what Molly Badham acheived.

12-06-2008

Paying to get into many of these collections! We all have to remember that attitudes towards how animals should be kept have changed quite rapidly.

I quite agree that we should of know better back then but then that was what people wanted to see!

Plus Tywcross with its many wonderfull species is NOT a great zoo! I hope that the change in management means that a new way forward can be achieved with better consideration to the enclosure design for its animals.

12-06-2008

I'd have to ask you exactly what these achievements conservation-wise or 'improving animal welfare' are? Disregarding the TV chimp era I haven't seen a lot of evidence since of mainstream conservation work at Twycross- more a lax attitude when it comes to breeding animals or keeping them in top quality enclosures.

She did 'rescue' some individual animals from bad surroundings and give them a better life- but then sent at least one orangutan to a japanese zoo and probably a worse life. the good work is also rather outweighed by the various endangered species at Twycross(in particular Gorillas & Elephants) which haven't been allowed to breed at their full potential.